need2know: Stocks set to open higher

Local stocks are poised to open sharply higher on bets US rates will remain low for some time yet.

What you need2know:

• SPI futures up 44 points to 5508 at 6.15am AEST

• AUD at 93.88 US cents, 95.71 Japanese yen, 67.75 Euro cents and 55.89 British pence

• On Wall St, S&P500 +1.1%, Dow Jones +1.1%, Nasdaq +1.7%

• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.2%, FTSE100 +0.7%, CAC +0.4%, DAX +0.2%

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• Spot gold up 0.1% to $US1310.66 an ounce

• Brent oil up 0.2% to $US107.85 per barrel

• Iron ore up 1% to $US119.40 per metric tonne

What’s on today

Official labour force figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show the number of people with jobs fell by 5000 in March, an AAP survey of 11 economists shows, after a surprise rise of 47,300 in February. The unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 6.1 per cent, its highest level since July 2003, up from 6.0 per cent in January and February.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations will meet on Thursday in Washington to discuss the global economy and the situation in Ukraine, sources said.

Stocks to watch

David Jones, Boral, WorleyParsons.

With its share price having halved over the past year, it is little surprise that Wotif.com Holdings has been in the market for a defence adviser. Graeme Wood has settled on Goldman Sachs.

SEEK may have investment banks Credit Suisse and UBS lined up to spin off Chinese jobs website Zhaopin, but the doubters are starting to question whether the transaction will ever see the light of day, according to the Australian Financial Review's Street Talk column.

Currencies

The US dollar has rebounded from one of its worst performances against the yen as the outlook for the greenback brightened on expectations for stronger economic data given better US weather conditions.

"Our view going into 2014 is broad-based dollar rally predicated on the acceleration of the US economy and rising US rates," said Mark McCormick, currency strategist, at Credit Agricole in New York.

After hitting lows of 101.52 yen in US trade on Tuesday, the dollar recovered to trade 0.1 per cent higher at 101.94 on Wednesday. The euro was also up 0.2 per cent at 140.76.

Copper closed down 0.8 per cent at $US6617 at tonne after hitting a one-week high of $US6710 on Tuesday. The red metal’s price is down about 10 per cent so far this year but has recovered by around 5 per cent from 3-1/2-year lows plumbed on March 19. "The uptrend is strongly intact since it has bounced from its lows," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade. "The major support remains at $US6413, and the next resistance is at $US6957."

“Several participants noted that the increase in the median projection overstated the shift in the projections,” the minutes of the March 18-19 Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed. Some expressed concern the rate forecasts “could be misconstrued as indicating a move by the committee to a less accommodative reaction function”.

US stocks finished sharply higher on Wednesday, bolstered by the Fed's commitment to easy money and bets on a positive first-quarter earnings season after Alcoa's results the previous day.

Europe

European shares rebounded on Wednesday, led by gains in automakers, although some traders said caution ahead of the European earnings season could curb near-term progress.

The STOXX Europe 600 Automobile & Auto Parts Index was the best-performing equity sector in Europe, rising 1.5 per cent as Volkswagen and Porsche both benefited from an upgrade by the brokerage Bernstein.

"We are cautiously optimistic about the first-quarter European reporting season and expect positive earnings growth in mid-single digit," said Ronny Claeys, a senior strategist at KBC Asset Management in Brussels.

Greece, at risk of crashing out of the euro zone just two years ago, will issue its first sovereign bond in almost four years on Thursday. "We aim to raise up to 2.5 billion euros," one Greek government official said.